


Rhetorical

by pepperywisdom (paramountie)



Series: Childhood Best Friends AU [2]
Category: due South
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski - Background, Break Up, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-15 04:11:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4592439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paramountie/pseuds/pepperywisdom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stella broke up with Ray the Tuesday after their first date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rhetorical

Stella broke up with Ray the Tuesday after their first date, and she told him that he knew why.

Ray did not know why. There were a lot of things Ray did know, like why the seasons changed (he paid attention in science class one time), why Stella did her nose wrinkle thing (she was trying not to laugh at one of Ray's hilarious _(hilarious)_ jokes), and why Ben sometimes launched into long, intense stories about caribou for no apparent reason (he was trying to change the subject, and nine times out of ten he would be successful. His caribou stories were oddly compelling.)

But Ray had no idea what the hell Stella was talking about. 

"Come on, Stel, we had some great times!" On their one, and only, date. 

"Yeah, Ray, it was great. It's just... you know. You know."

Ray just blinked at her. Stella ran a hand through her hair.

"Look, Ray, I like you," she said, and Ray's head perked up. "I think we could work as a couple." Ray's head perked up even more. "But it can't work out between us when you're so... distracted."

That was just unfair. Ray had been totally and completely focused on Stella for the whole five days they'd been together. Except for the few minutes during their date at the carnival when he'd gotten into a fight with the guy in charge of the Ferris wheel. And when he'd had to cancel their second date because Ben had the flu and Ray had to stay with him and make sure that he didn't try to do something stupid, like homework. But those were understandable!

Except for the whole fight with the Ferris wheel guy. That might not have been the best idea Ray had ever had. 

"What do you mean, distracted?" In his head, he was already composing a list of all the reasons why the fight at the carnival was necessary and unavoidable.

"Are you serious?"

It didn't sound like that was a real question.

"Uh."

Ray wasn't sure if answering her rhetorical question would prove his devotion or just make her more mad. 

"Ray!" In that moment, she sounded exactly like Ben did whenever Ray wasn't paying enough attention to his tutoring. ("Ray! Don't you think the plight of Hamlet is moving?" "Eh. I don't know. He's kind of whiny.") 

God, Stella and Ben were spending way too much time together. 

"What?" ("Well, you'd be whiny too if your _uncle_ had killed your _father_ and married your _mother_." "I don't even have an uncle.")

"Do you honestly have no idea what I'm talking about?"

This one probably wasn't rhetorical.

"Honestly, Stel, I have no idea what you're talking about."

There was a long moment where the two of them just stared at each other. Then, Stella started laughing.

The laughter went on for several minutes. When Stella finally caught her breath, she said: "I really need to find some friends who aren't stupid boys."

After that, Ray completely forgot that he was trying to convince her to get back together with him. He was too busy defending his honor.


End file.
